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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29095218">Swans</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka'>yeaka</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Trek, Star Trek: Voyager</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Vignette</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:42:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>885</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29095218</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Celes tries a holodeck program.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tal Celes/William Telfer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Swans</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer: I don’t own Star Trek or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The dance instructor looks too much like her cousin, so she instructs the computer to age him by ten years, make his shoulders twice as broad, change his hair to blond and his skin to dark brown, raise his brow, a plethora of other things, and by the time she’s done, he looks nothing like before and also not at all Bajoran. He’s not even <i>humanoid</i> anymore. Which doesn’t make any sense, because of course she didn’t ask the computer to completely remove all his bones and make him a gelatinous puddle. But at the same time, of course she found a way to mess it up. No matter how she looks at it, Celes just isn’t any <i>good</i> at operating Voyager.</p><p>She sucks in a deep breath, lets it out, and tells herself this is just the holodeck. She’s all alone anyway. In these few precious off-duty hours, it doesn’t matter if she’s terrible. She resets the tango class to the way it was when she first came in, generic and human, just like it was in the databanks. At least, she’s fairly certain it originated on Earth. The rest of the holographic patrons look human, even if the instructor is totally someone she knows right down to the lopsided clay earring. </p><p>He barks at her to line up, and it’s so sudden and so authoritative that she actually jumps. All the imaginary people pair together, and she’s left with the last one standing—a tall, tan brunet with a winning smile. She smiles nervously back. He has an air of confidence about him that suggests he’s taken this class several times already, or at least, has been programmed at a higher level than she’s going to start at. She has to remind herself it won’t matter if she steps on his feet. Besides, she’ll take the class several times herself, and by the end she’ll be a regular bollarina or whatever it was Billy said. That poise and grace will transfer to her work, and she won’t trip over Seven anymore, and she just <i>might</i> even get some much-desired praise.</p><p>Of course, she’ll never actually be as graceful as Seven. Which is really something, given that Seven’s one reset button away from full robot. The man in front of her is <i>almost</i> as handsome as Seven is beautiful, and he holds out his hand like she’s just the partner he’s been waiting for. </p><p>The music starts, skips, stops, and Celes turns with her hand halfway held out to her human counterpart. The instructor’s spluttering in annoyance at the large silver archway that’s burst into the deep blacks and reds of the sophisticated dancehall. </p><p>Billy strolls through it and pauses, starting at the annoyed instructor. The man’s not even yelling in Federation Standard, and the computer offers no translation. Celes doesn’t need it; she’s busy focusing on her friend. </p><p>Warily giving the instructor a wide berth, he wanders through the crowd of students, stopping in front of Celes and her patiently waiting partner. He gives the man a cursory glance before saying, “I didn’t think you’d actually try the dancing program.”</p><p>“I figured you had a good point,” she admits. “It might make me less clumsy on the job.” But more importantly: “What’re you doing here? You never come to the holodeck.” Even though she invites him all the time. She sent an obligatory message this time too, knowing he’d come up with an excuse not to come. He smiles awkwardly like he knows it, shrugging before scratching the back of his head. He’s almost blushing—a faint pink across his cheeks that brings out the colour in his eyes. He looks sort of strange in his uniform, a stark contrast to the elaborate suits and dresses of the dancers, but no more so than she does. In a way, it’s a small relief to have him there: someone else who definitely hasn’t mastered the tango.</p><p>He mumbles, “Sorry,” like he owes her an apology for the past. He doesn’t. She knows how he is and likes him anyway. She knows he’s paranoid about the dozens of incidents on record where a holodeck program went wildly wrong and commandeered or nearly killed the entire crew of a starship. Most people go anyway because the risk is small and <i>so</i> worth it, but nobody every accused William Telfer of being a risk taker. </p><p>Granted, that was before their first away mission. And now he drops his hands to his sides, takes a deep breath like she did only a few minutes ago, stands up straight and tells her, “I think... I’m gonna stop being silly about that stuff. So, if you want someone to hang out with, I’m here. Uh... but, if I’d known you were dancing...”</p><p>She can see the confidence in his eyes flaring up but wavering, and before it can go out, she snaps, “Computer, delete dance partner.” The attractive man in front of her gives a little look of surprise before winking out of existence. He was probably a great dancer, and he was definitely cute.</p><p>But Billy’s cuter. So Celes eagerly pulls him into place and takes his hand, ready when the music starts. He grins as wide as she does and turns out to be a surprisingly good bollarina.</p>
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